Trying to get your mind around the impact of Hurricane Sandy on our right to the city? We are. This is why Right to the City is working closely with the Brecht Forum on URBAN UPRISING this month- a series of events and actions for analysis, dialogue and action with community organizations, grassroots formations and university students to discuss the militarization of urban space, local citywide struggles and Sandy’s impact, and transformative demands and alternatives we can fight for in urban areas to help us build the cities of our dreams.

We are launching this effort with the URBAN UPRISING FILM SERIES. We are excited to present our feature My Brooklyn: The Battle for the The Soul of the City (72 min) – a personal account of current struggles with the transformation of Brooklyn through policies of gentrification and displacement and The People’s Firehouse- a short film about Polish Americans in the 70s fighting the removal of a local firehouse in their neighborhood as part of a larger plan city plan for modernization and development.

“My Brooklyn” is co-directed by Kelly Anderson, Professor of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College and a faculty fellow at the Center for Place, Culture and Politics in 2007-2008.